03/13/2014

Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta received just 99 months for his mob crimes, including his role in the 2003 hit on Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno who ran the Genovese rackets in Springfield, MA, after federal prosecutors lauded "him as one of the best Mafia informants ever" as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican:

Under a plea deal, he testified in two trials against his former cohorts and bosses, sending two of the cohorts to prison for life as well as the onetime acting boss of the New York-based crime syndicate, Arthur "Artie" Nigro. He also helped send former Longmeadow loan shark Emilio Fusco to prison for 25 years after a trial in 2012.

With credit for time served 47-year-0ld Bingy will be a free man in four years.

12/12/2013

Joseph Nigro, the son of imprisoned Genovese boss Artie Nigro, has been arrested for allegedly "using a file sharing network to trade, store and download a mountain of sick images and videos showing children under 16 engaging in sex" as reported by Jamie Schram for the New York Post.

Artie Nigro is serving a life term following a racketeering conviction two years ago for his role in the 2003 hit against New England capo Adolfo Bruno.

12/03/2013

Mobster-turned-informant Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta will be sentenced on March 20, 2014 for his role in the 2003 hit on Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno who ran the Genovese rackets in Springfield, MA as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican: "testifying against his former cohorts in two trials in New York in 2011 and 2012, Arillotta delivered unflinching testimony about Mafia life and murder plots, including against Bruno, the longtime head of the Genovese crime family in Greater Springfield and northern Connecticut." It has not yet been disclosed what, if any, prison term federal prosecutors are seeking against Arillotta.

05/07/2013

Mobster-turned-informant John Bologna will be sentenced today for his role in the 2003 hit on Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno who ran the Genovese rackets in Springfield, MA as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican. He never was called as a government witness at the racketeering trials against other Genovese mobsters for the Bruno slaying including one-time acting boss Artie Nigro because "he was not the most believable courtroom witness and a potential embarrassment for the FBI":

"Bologna would not present as a credible individual to a jury, given his
history of duplicity and repeated withholding of information. Bologna
would be easily led, through cross-examination, to say things that were
inaccurate; and Bologna still may not be telling the whole truth as to
things about which the Government does not know," a prosecutor wrote in
the sentencing memorandum.

Under sentencing guidelines Bologna faces thirty years in prison but in light of his cooperation -- albeit incomplete -- federal prosecutors would accept less time for the 71-year-old.

03/02/2013

Frankie Roche, the admitted shooter in the contract killing of Adolfo Bruno in Springfield, MA, was sentenced to only 14 years in prison due to his extensive cooperation with federal investigators which helped to convict four alleged Genovese mobsters including one-time acting boss Artie Nigro as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican.

In recounting the murder Roche testified at a trial last year that "he shot Bruno six or seven times on Nov. 23, 2003, in a dark parking
lot in downtown Springfield for a $10,000 fee, recruited by Bruno's
rivals who were looking to run the city" as previously reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican:

Coincidentally, Roche had independently
drawn the ire of Bruno when Roche wrecked a bar owned by Bruno's friend
shortly before the killing. So, Roche told jurors he blurted a
greeting triggered by machismo just before he pumped the powerful crime
boss full of bullets. "I said: 'Hey, Al ... you looking for me? Then I
shot him once, then another four or five times. Then he fell to the
ground and I shot him again," Roche told jurors.

Roche may have been nothing more than a punk with a gun but his
wisecrack -- "Hey Al, you looking for me?" -- prior to bringing down the
Genovese capo will become a classic line in mob lore.

The Genvose family is known as the ivy league of organized crime, and generally has been impenetrable to law enforcement. However, its selection of Frankie Roche to carry out a hit against the Springfield boss no doubt will go down as one of its more bone-headed moves, and for that the good public thanks it.

12/09/2012

Genovese-soldier-turned-government-witness Felix Tranghese was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the 2003 murder of family capo Adolfo Bruno in Springfield, MA as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican: "in its sentencing memo, federal prosecutors noted that Tranghese began
cooperating 'almost immediately' after he was arrested," and "U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel commended Tranghese for his cooperation at the sentencing." Tranghese will be credited for the time served since his 2010 arrest.

Tranghese was one of three Genovese mobsters who turned on the family, and their cooperation resulted in the 2011 conviction of one-time acting boss Artie Nigro. The string of turncoats suggests the feds may have gotten the break it's
long needed to make a major strike against the crime family beyond the Bruno slaying.

10/11/2012

Reputed Genovese soldier Emilio Fusco faces up to 45 years in prison when sentenced today by a Manhattan federal judge following his conviction last spring on racketeering, extortion and drug charges, and prosecutors are asking for the maximum by claiming "Fusco has devoted his adult life to working for the mob, committing
crimes for a living as a manipulative, professional criminal" as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican.

Although Fusco was acquitted at trial for his alleged role in the 2003 murders of Genovese capo Adolfo Bruno and mob associate Gary Westerman in Springfield, MA prosecutors maintain Fusco remains culpable for these crimes, and are asking the judge to consider them at sentencing.

The government's case rested largely on the testimony of flipped gangsters including former Genovese capo Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta.

UPDATE:

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel gave Fusco 25 years after ruling he was complicit in the murder plots against Bruno and Westerman as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican: "under federal law, judges may consider so-called 'relevant conduct' in
sentencing proceedings and find defendants responsible for certain
crimes using a lower threshold of proof than a jury's barometer of
beyond a reasonable doubt."

09/24/2012

Last spring Emilio Fusco was acquitted for two gangland murders that took place in Springfield, MA but convicted on other charges including racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking conspiracies, and after the presiding judge denied his motion to vacate those convictions the reputed Genovese soldier will be sentenced on October 10 in Manhattan federal court as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican.

Fusco faces up to 45 years in prison.

If Fusco were convicted for his alleged role in the 2003 murders of Genovese capo Adolfo Bruno and mob associate Gary Westerman he undoubtedly would have been given life in prison. Fusco's three co-defendants, including onetime Genovese acting boss Arthur Nigro, were convicted last year for their roles in the Bruno slaying, and now are serving life sentences.

The government's case rested largely on the testimony of flipped gangsters including former Genovese capo Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta. The Genovese family has been a tough nut for the feds to crack, and flipping Arillotta was a major coup for Team America. Expect a round of indictments against a new line of defendants based on Arillotta's cooperation.

07/14/2012

Last May reputed Genovese soldier Emilio Fusco was acquitted for two gangland murders that took place in Springfield, MA but convicted on other charges, and his defense lawyer has filed a motion to vacate all but one of those convictions on various grounds as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican.

As it now stands Fusco faces up to 45 years in prison when sentenced in September by Manhattan federal judge Kevin Castel on a slew of convictions including racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking conspiracies.

If Fusco were convicted for his alleged role in the 2003 murders of Genovese capo Adolfo Bruno and mob associate Gary Westerman he undoubtedly would have been given life in prison. Fusco's three co-defendants, including onetime Genovese acting boss Arthur Nigro, were convicted last year for their roles in the Bruno slaying, and now are serving life sentences.

05/12/2012

Victor Bruno, the son of slain Genovese capo Big Al, held a press conference on Thursday to grouse about the feds for not doing more to protect his father from the 2003 hit on his life in Springfield, MA as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican:

"The FBI knew my father's life was in danger. Yet, they took no steps to adequately notify him other than a brief, informal and impromptu meeting by Special Agent Cliff Hedges when my dad was eating pizza," Bruno said, referring to a meeting between his father and the Springfield agent in 2002 who was later memorialized in a presentencing report for Emilio Fusco, the latest defendant tried in connection with Adolfo Bruno's death.

The information in the presentencing report that Big Al had met with the FBI to discuss the mob allegedly was a catalyst for his subsequent hit, and the mobster's son contends it never should have been included in the court-filed document for the world to see.